Governor:
In a re-match of the Oct. 4, 2011 special election, Gov.Earl
Ray Tomblin (D)defeated
businessmanBill Maloney (R) by 50.49%
to 45.65% with 2.53% to Jesse
Johnson
(MP)
and 1.34% to David
Moran
(L).U.S.
Senate: In a
re-match of the Nov. 2010 special election, Sen. Joe Manchin (D) defeated
Greer
Industries president and CEO John
Raese
(R) and Bob Henry
Baber (MP) by 60.57% to 36.47% and 2.96%.
(Machin's margin in 2010 was 53.5%
to 43.4%).U.S.
House: Reps. David McKinley (R) and Shelley Moore Capito (R)
were re-elected by comfortable margins; in the 3rd CD Rick Snuffer (R)
pushed Rep. Nick Rahall (D)
to 53.98% to 46.02%.State Legislature:All 100 House seats and 17 Senate
seats were up. Democrats'
majorities were trimmed a bit in both chambers, The House went from 65D, 35R to 54D, 46R and
the Senate from 28D,
6R to 25D, 9R. Ballot Measure: Voters
defeated
a
constitutional
amendment
to repeal term limits for sheriffs.

Overview:The Romney/Ryan ticket easily carried West
Virginia, gaining a plurality of 179,386 votes (26.76 percentage
points). Coal was a big issue. There were a handful of
visits. Mitt Romney attended a fundraiser in Wheeling on May 3
and Ann Romney attended a fundraiser in Charleston on July 19.
Green VP nominee
Cheri Honkala visited on Oct. 14. President Obama has never fared
well in this state. In the May 8 Democratic primary he ceded over
40% of
the vote to a Texas prison inmate. In the 2008 general election he lost to
John McCain
by 55.7% to 42.6%, and in the May 13, 2008 Democratic
primary he lost to Hillary Clinton
by a margin of 66.9% to 25.8%. Obama
| (Romney)BALLOT
[PDF]

Presidential
Preference
Primary
--
Tuesday,
May
8,
2012

DemocratsOfficial
Results

+Barack Obama

106,770

59.35%

Keith Judd

73,139

40.65%

Total

179,908

Note: Judd is an inmate
in the Federal Correctional
Institution in
Texarkana, Texas.

2008
OverviewDespite the drubbing Obama
received in the May 13 primary, his campaign
did make an effort here. However, when the votes
were counted the McCain-Palin ticket prevailed by a plurality of 93,609
votes (13.12 percentage points), carrying 48 counties to seven for
Obama-Biden. General
Election
DetailsObama/Allies
|
McCain/Allies
| Nader
| More

2004
OverviewBoth campaigns put
significant
resources into West Virginia. September saw considerable activity
by the candidates, but in October visits
dwindled markedly. Bush carried 46 counties to Kerry's 9 and
ended
up more than doubling his 2000 plurality to 97,237 votes (12.86
percentage
points). Over 107,000 more people voted in the presidential race
in 2004 as compared to 2000; registration in 2004 was a bit over
100,000
more than in 2000. General
Election DetailsKerry/Allies
|
Bush-Cheney
'04

Legislation
adopted in 2001 provided for early in-person voting. From 20 days before election to
three days before
election "any voter may walk into their local county or circuit clerk’s
office,
depending upon where they live, and vote absentee with 'no excuse.'”

2000
OverviewBush carried this
reliably
Democratic state despite a two-to-one registration advantage for
Democrats.
The Bush-Cheney ticket won with a plurality of 40,978 votes (6.33
percentage
points). Bush carried 42 counties to Gore's 13. Concerns
among
coal miners about Gore's environmental positions, among steel workers
about
foreign dumping, and among gun owners hurt the Vice President. In
the open second congressional district race, Republican Shelley Moore
Capito
picked up a seat despite running against the top spending House
candidate
in the country, Jim Humphries ($6.9 million).General
Election Activity

Notes:
West Virginia
has three official parties: the Democrats, Republicans and
Libertarians.
On April 7, 1999 Gov. Underwood signed SB 591 into law, making ballot
access
markedly more difficult for minor party and independent candidates by
increasing
the required number of signatures from one percent of votes cast in the
last election to two percent. 6,365 signatures were required
before
June 11, 1999 and 12, 730 after. The Natural Law Party
successfully
petitioned to get on the ballot in 1999. The Reform Party
submitted
petitions on August 1, 2000 containing 14,871 valid signatures, 2,141
more
than required. Nader supporters turned in 7,111 valid signatures,
short of the number required, but the Nader campaign went to court, and
the Green Party made the ballot as a result of a Sept. 15, 2000
decision
by Judge Charles H. Haden, II of the U.S. District Court, Southern
District
of West Virginia.